


Favorite Part of My Day

by Writeonthrough (Schroederplayspiano)



Category: Sweet Magnolias (TV)
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Hurt/Comfort, Post-Season/Series 01 Finale, Ty Jealous
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-17
Updated: 2020-06-17
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,086
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24764443
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Schroederplayspiano/pseuds/Writeonthrough
Summary: The weeks following the car accident have created an unbearable distance between Annie and Ty. The more time Ty spends apart from Annie, the more realizes how much he’s fallen for her. He does everything he can to close the physical and emotional distance between them.
Relationships: Annie Sullivan/Tyler Townsend
Comments: 13
Kudos: 104





	Favorite Part of My Day

Annie’s laughter engulfs the house as Ty returns home from baseball practice. He revels in the sound. He can’t remember the last time he’d heard her laugh.

Since the trauma their two families endured in the last month following the car accident that almost took both Kyle’s and Annie’s lives, coming home to his two favorite people safe and recovering on the couch together is enough for him. After the torturous waiting rooms, the beeps filling the silence in hospital rooms, the tears and the pain, he knows by now how much laughter is worth.

The sound entrances him and pulls him closer. He approaches the living room and leans on the door frame, desiring nothing more than to be surrounded by Annie’s and Kyle’s vivacious chatter.

“It’s called give the audience what they want,” Kyle exclaims over Annie.

“Oh, my, god, you are such a freshman!” Annie retorts and Ty smiles behind her, not only appreciating her point, but also the return of her spirited energy.

“Being a freshman has nothing to do with it, thank you very much. I happen to like bright stories with happy endings.”

Ty watches Annie’s gaze narrow at Kyle. “Bright stories? Is that even a thing?”

Kyle waves her off. “I’m on pain medication drugs. You know what I mean.”

“True art works to open people's eyes,” Annie explains passionately, “Change their minds, open their hearts, show them a different perspective.”

“Right, so,” Kyle challenges her, “All these cheesy, happy-go-lucky movies we’ve been watching for the last week, entertaining us, bedridden, don’t count?”

“They serve as very important pieces of entertainment, not true pieces of art.” Kyle shakes his head at her position, and she continues, “How many times have you told me you loved the photos I take? How they make you stop and think? None of those are bright and happy.”

Kyle’s lips part for a rebuttal, but no sound comes. Annie smiles in victory.

Ty seizes upon the pause in the conversation to join it. “How about Annie’s black and white series from her hospital bed?” Kyle and Annie turn at the sound of his voice and watch him enter the room. “Each photo brought me into her experience and made me feel connected to her and what she was going through.”

Annie’s mind fills with his words, causing her heart to skip a few beats. “I didn’t even know you saw them.”

“Are you kidding?” Ty asks softly as her rounds the couch corner. “I couldn’t have been able to get through that first week after the accident without them.”

Ty’s new position in front of the couch presents him with an entirely different experience than the ease of listening to their voices. A white medical bandage wraps itself four times around Kyle’s head. Purple bruises line down the left side of his face while his left arm rests in a sling. Across the couch from him, a cast covers the length of Annie’s right leg. Propped up over three throw pillows, the casted leg eclipses the rest of her petite body. Ty follows the cast up the rest of her body until he settles on the brightness in her eyes.

Annie feels the intensity of his gaze, hears the sincerity in his voice, and blushes. She refocuses on the hem of her shirt, whispering, “Me either.”

Oblivious to the connection between them, Kyle blurts out without thinking, “Well, those photos depress me.”

Annie snaps her head up to him, “You were going through a similar experience at the same time, Kyle, that’s completely understandable—”

“Those photos are art,” Ty insists. “And, they have a happy ending.”

“Ha,” Annie scoffs, pushing herself up to a sitting position. “That’s a matter of perspective.”

Ty watches her with concern. “Most things are,” he replies slowly, more focused on her decision to move. She reaches for the pillows below her foot and he rushes to help. “What are you doing?”

“I’m leaving,” she announces. “I’ve been here long enough and I’m tired.” Ty’s gentle attempt to help remove a pillow is met with irritation as she yanks the pillow from him and her leg falls several inches. She winces in pain, but tries to quell his concern, shaking it off with an, “It’s fine.” She drags her feet to the floor. “Can you hand me my crutches?”

“Yeah,” refusing to leave her side, Ty leans forward as he reaches for the crutches against the wall. He hands them to her, watching her pull herself up to a standing position.

“Well, it’s been lovely,” she nods to Kyle. “Thanks for the company today.”

“Anytime.”

Hobbling past Ty, Annie rounds the couch to Kyle's side. She stops at his last back pillow. He leans back to look up at her, expecting her next words, “Knock your head around for me.”

Kyle responds automatically, “Knock your leg around for me.”

Ty shakes his head at their bizarre interaction. “How is that even remotely okay to say?”

“We’re sick of everyone telling us to be careful all time,” Kyle speaks for both of them.

“It gets really old, fast,” Annie adds on.

Ty’s tone stays serious, “Well, maybe you should take it to heart.”

Instead of acknowledging Ty, Annie leans down to kiss Kyle’s bandaged head. The innocent action lurches Ty’s stomach. His mind goes blank and his face falls as the two smile at each other.

“’Night, Kyle.”

“’Night, Annie.”

Annie continues to hobble towards the door before thoughts enter Ty’s mind again. “Whoa, whoa, whoa,” he races up to her, placing himself between her and the front door. “What do you think you’re doing?”

“Uh,” she gestures to her crutches. “I’m hobbling home.”

“No,” Ty insists. “No, you’re not.”

She sighs, already exasperated, “Ty—can we not do this?”

“Annie, you’re not walking home by yourself. Not at night. Not on crutches.”

“It’s two blocks.”

“It’s not happening.”

“Well, I am not allowed to get in the car with a Townsend—one of my mother’s rules I actually agree with at the moment—so, unless you have any better ideas, I’m—”

“I’ll walk with you,” Ty offers eagerly.

“Ty…” Annie pleads softly. “You’ll hate it. It’s too slow and boring for you.”

“Spending time with you could never be boring and I’m happy to go slow.” His unexpected sweetness silences her protest. He quirks an eyebrow at her in question. “Take it or leave it, Sullivan.”

Annie shakes her head and moves past him. “Fine. Let’s go, Townsend.”

* * *

The night breeze welcomes Annie outside. She inhales the fresh air, allowing it to take over her senses after spending all day inside. Ty forgets his concern, memorized by the peaceful spirit which sweeps over her and softens her features.

She plants the crutches two steps below the Townsends’ porch and navigates down their front steps.

Ty follows behind. “You sure are getting a hang of those crutches. You couldn’t do that a week ago.”

“Hmm,” Annie agrees, pivoting towards the sidewalk. “You know what they say,” a carefree sarcasm fills her voice, “practice makes perfect.” 

Ty notices her indifferent tone and her black and white photo series flashes in his head: Annie Sullivan had no interest in small talk. Since they haven’t had a real conversation in weeks, the last thing he wanted with Annie tonight was meaningless chit-chat.

Searching for the right words, he reaches up to scratch the back of his neck. As he does so, the breeze takes up Annie’s hair and plays with her curls. He freezes mid-scratch to take in her beauty. “I meant what I said before. Your photos are the only way I could survive these last couple weeks.”

Her brow furrows. “Somehow I doubt that.”

“Well, don’t.” He stresses, picking up his pace to step ahead of her. As he turns around to face her, he forces her to stop. She pulls back her crutches and their gazes collide. “I’ve missed hanging out with you—”

“Unlike before the accident when we hung out all the time,” she challenges sharply.

He shakes his head. “No—no, ever since the accident you and Kyle have created your own little bubble that no one else can enter. I’m totally cut off from you.”

Anguish mars Annie’s face. “And I’m totally cut off from everyone! I can’t go to school! My mom suffocates me with worry. You don’t get a say in my recovery bubble with Kyle—"

“He has a crush on you, you know.” Ty blurts out without thinking.

Annie pulls back in retreat and stares at him blankly. Silence falls over them. Ty swallows his regret. Annie blinks in the old information.

“Yeah,” she directs her crutches around him and starts moving forward. “I know.”

Ty gapes at her passing figure in disbelief. “You know?”

“He told me,” she admits, deciding to omit how he tried to kiss her. “And somehow, it didn’t end up all over school the next day.”

“Annie…” Ty softly pleads. “You know I didn’t mean—”

She continues hobbling on. “Nor did I go out and get a boyfriend to deal with it.”

Ty’s eyes close as he realizes she understood his motivations towards Cece better than he did. When he opens them, he finds Annie feet from her front door.

He jogs to catch up with her. “Annie,” he calls from behind.

Refusing to turn back around, she rests on her crutches and sighs, “Yeah.”

“I broke up with Cece.”

Her heartbeat quickens. “When?”

He steps in front of her so their eyes meet. “The day after the accident.”

She searches his gaze and finds sincerity. “Okay,” she says softly.

“Okay,” he agrees.

The night breeze picks up as they stare at each other. It blows through Annie’s hair and drags it across her face. Ty takes the opportunity to reach up and tuck her hair behind her ear. Once he does so, he rests his palm on her cheek, savoring the touch of her skin.

“Ty,” Annie whispers, interrupting the moment. She softly removes his hand. “I do really need to get some rest.”

“I’ll help you up the stairs,” he offered, wishing to prolong his time with her as much as possible.

“I’m fine,” she insists.

“A whole staircase is completely different than three porch steps,” he reminds her.

Once they reach the stairs to her bedroom, Ty gently guides her left hand to the banister and takes her other hand in his own. He carries her crutches with him as they walk up the stairs together.

* * *

Annie returns from the bathroom, now in her PJs. The polka dot shorts barely stretch over her cast which reaches her mid-thigh. Ty watches her rely on her crutches to cross the five feet from the door to the bed, wishing—like he had countless times before—that she would let him help her. He now knows better than to ask. 

When she stops in front of him, he brightens at the chance to take over her crutches’ role for the remaining two and a half feet. His arms reach out, but before he could speak, she interrupts, “What are you still doing here? I told you I’m fine.”

He drops his arms and sighs, “I know you are, Annie. That’s not why I’m here.”

“Then why,” she limps past him, “Are you here?”

Ty follows her to the bed and pulls the covers back for her. Annie turns her back to the bed and drops down. Without speaking, Ty takes hold of her arm to steady her with one hand and catches the falling crutches with the other.

“Why would ever handle those crutches gently?” She exclaims with a hint of sarcasm, “Throwing them on the floor with a thud is the favorite part of my day!”

He smiles, “I wouldn’t want to deny you your favorite part of the day. Would you like me to pick them up so you can throw them down with gusto?”

“No,” she retorts, “moment’s passed.” His gaze follows her movements as she lifts her casted leg up into bed and wriggles to find a comfortable position. Once she finds it, she looks up and realizes the intensity of gaze.

Her forehead crinkles with confusion. Then her foggy, drunken memory of the last time he sat with her at the edge of her bed flashes back. She squeezes her eyes closed with regret. The moments of darkness pass too quickly for Annie to fully compose herself. She blinks her eyes open to notice Ty’s scooted a foot closer to her. Her head swirled at his proximity and the foggy memory of their last time here together forces her to fight the haziness.

“Ty, seriously,” she whispers. “What are you doing here?”

He continues to lean in towards Annie. With their foreheads touching, he whispers back, “I told you, I miss spending time with you. You’re the favorite part of my day,” he leans in to close the gap between them.

Annie pulls back before their lips touch and raises a hand to his chest to put distance between them. Ty retreats further, startled. A frozen silence falls between them, freezing them in place as they stare at each other, mere inches apart. 

For Ty, since the accident, chances at moments like this one filled his head. Sharing alone time with Annie seemed impossible these days—there was always someone around her: Kyle, her mom, his mom, her dad, her friends. Before, he took her independence—how she never needed anyone to keep busy and happy—for granted. More and more he realized how much he needed her in his life to be happy.

For Annie, her arduous recovery gave her too much time to think. Whenever the crowds around her dispersed, her head reeled from the constant noise and attention. For the first time in life, everyone she knew—on top of her mom—worried about her, and her slow recovery meant that she felt like she was letting everybody down. She always felt Ty’s lingering presence in the back of the constant commotion around her—whether he refused to leave her side in the hospital or whether he stayed in the room while her and Kyle watched a movie—and didn’t know how to think about it. So, she didn’t think about it at all. 

Annie breaks the moment first. She looks down to give her attention to her blanket frays. As Ty scans her for any hints on her feelings, he notices the crinkles still pinching her forehead.

“Are you making fun of me?” She whispers under her breath so Ty can barely hear her.

Once he makes out the words, his hands rush to face and pulls it to look at her. “No,” he promises, his tone torn between serious and disappointment that she could ever doubt him. He strokes her cheek with his thumb as he asks her, “How could even ask me that?”

“It’s a fair question, Ty,” she insists. “All night it seems you have been trying to recreate that night of that stupid party—”

He drops his hands and shakes his head. “That’s not true at all—”

“—Insisting on walking me home after seeing me hang out with Kyle, carefully helping me up the stairs, waiting outside the door while I changed, sitting—”

“Your leg is broken. You’re on crutches. This is your second week off bed rest. It is totally appropriate for me to be concerned about—”

“I don’t want your concern, Ty,” Annie emphasizes.

“Too bad,” he shoots back. “I’m going to be concerned about you whether you like it or not.”

She sighs, not sure whether to admit the truth or not. Meeting his gaze, she caves, “It’s friggin’ confusing.” He responds with stunned silence. “And I have enough things competing to rip my life apart right now. I can’t afford one of them to be you.”

Ty softens, “I am not trying to confuse you.”

“Okay, then, can you just be straight with me for once? Because I do not have the energy to interpret how you’ve been treating me differently since the accident—”

“Treating you differently?”

“Yes. All of sudden, you text me back within two seconds, you bring me my favorite snacks without asking, you stand up to my mom for me, you sneak back in the hospital after visiting hours to watch me do nothing but sleep…”

“You knew about that…?” He interjects incredulously.

“You think I don’t notice you staying in whichever room I’m in for as long as possible? Your gaze bores into me from across the room and my head gets all foggy and I can’t think straight—”

“Annie—”

“So,” she straightens her posture and their gazes meet. She fights the haziness he causes. “If you doing all these things out of concern, then—”

“I didn’t do those things out of concern,” he whispers, replacing his hands on her cheeks.

She revels in his touch, finally succumbing to the moment. Her heart races as she asks, “Then why are you here?”

He takes a deep breath, preparing to lay his heart on the line: “Because I can’t get you out my head,” he declares. “I couldn’t even I wanted to and I don’t want to anymore.”

Annie’s breath catches and she reaches towards him. At her opening, Ty dives towards her lips and she meets him with vigor. She wraps her arms around him and his hands brush past her cheeks to settle into her hair. He revels when she leans in further to deepen their kiss and responds with enthusiasm. Their heartbeats quicken, beating in sync so close together. When she pulls back slightly for a breath, Ty switches sides, giving her short, sweet kisses. Annie follows his movements as he pulls back for the last time and settles as their foreheads press together.

As Ty combs his fingers through her hair, he whispers, “It feels like I’ve been wanting to do that forever.”

“This last month has felt like forever,” she responds gracefully, knowing he couldn’t have had the desire for them to get together longer than she had.

He nods against her forehead. “I don’t ever want to go through anything in this last month again. No more hospitals, no more car crashes, no stupid high school drama, no more crossed signals, none of it—”

Annie smiles softly. “Except this,” she kisses him briefly.

“Except this,” he smiles back and kisses her again. “Except us,” he whispers, sealing his words with a promising kiss.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoy it! This story has been trapped inside my head ever since I finished the show! 
> 
> I decided to post the whole story as an oneshot so it would be complete and I wouldn't be tempted to post more. 
> 
> Reviews make me happy!


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